Christina Kontogeorgiou
+5
Wow! Espana is never a dissapointment. Whats not to love? Perfectly located by English bay and boasting simple inviting ambiance. Oh the fresh food.... delicious! Everyone must try the fried olives! My favourite part is choosing from the innovative rotating menu of beautifully prepared Spanish inspired meals and pairing them with a thoughtful selection of Spanish fine wines. Don't leave without tasting the churros with Dulce de Leche yogurt sauce --simply sublime! I highly recommend Espana for a great evening of tapas with friends.
Great wine! Incredible fresh creative food! Highly recommend this quaint resto with super friendly staff
I've been to Espana many times and this was another excellent visit. The drinks, the music and the service were terrific and the food was out of this world! Love it.
Patatas Bravas were great. Chicken liver pate on toast was ok but didn't blow us away. The Quail was shredded and heavily spiced, so we couldn't really tell it apart from, say, pulled pork. Finally the Paella, which was seafood-less that night, opting instead for mushrooms, truffle paste, and thin slices of cured pork. We specifically asked our server if they served it with a socarrat (crispy rice crust), and were assured they did. Alas, they didn't. However, to their credit, they took our complaint in stride and made an honest effort to rectify the situation short of redoing the entire dish (we wouldn't have wanted to wait another half hour for a redo anyways). Still, it was delicious. Service was polite and friendly which went a long way to smoothing out the bumps.
I like the cozy setting at the restaurant, foods are really good. I would recommend small group or date night at Espana. You should go early to avoid long wait.
Ordered the daily paella - squid ink seafood paella, one of the best paellas I have ever had! Definitely one of the dishes I will remember for the rest of my life.
All the food we had were superb! Glad to have an authentic Spanish restaurant in town that I can frequently visit!
Hard to find authentic Spanish cuisine in this town. Everything's so tasty. The Paella is better then the one I had in Barcelona! Highly recommend.
Have you ever heard the story of where the word ‘tapas’ comes from? Legend has it a Spaniard was dining outside of his home on the beach. It was a windy day, and he became frustrated that every time he placed his cup down on the table, sand would fly into it. To prevent this from happening, he took a slice of meat he was eating and placed it over top of the cup. It worked so well as a lid that every time he re-filled his cup with wine, he would ask a servant to bring another piece of meat to go with it. The meat brought with the drink was referred to as ‘tapas‘ – derived from the Spanish verb ‘tapar‘ or ‘to cover’. And so tapas was born!
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
I love the no reservations policy to this restaurant because it means it's not exclusive to anyone. Opens at 5 for dinner. I decided to come here for valentines day with my girlfriend. Host was very friendly. Sat us at the bar. It was nice, cozy, contemporary. Danielle was our server and she is amazing. Her suggestions made our experience very memorable. I would suggest anyone who is eating here, really do sit up at the bar it's constant attention and better service up front.
And as for the food? Whoa... On a night like this, very sexy and teasing. We ordered the special tonight which was the Ox heart with fried artichokes, fingerings, puree sauce, fried garlic chips and fried rosemary. JUST AMAZING! And the Flanker steak with potato porchini puree was sooooo flavorful. The fried green tomato salad with quail eggs Holy smokes out of this world! We asked Danielle about dessert and she suggested the Panacotta. Let me tell you something, there are very few servers in this industry that can suggest amazing and I mean amazing plates with genuine opinions about flavors. She knows what she's doing. She romanced her plates. The Panacotta was sooooo refreshing with basil and blood orange. I am definitely coming back here and I'm making sure I'm sitting up at the bar with Danielle serving us. This place gets 100 percent for service and culinary experience. You can feel the love in those dishes. Wonderful wonderful valentines date night. I just had to tip bigger then usual. Thank you Danielle for a amazing memorable valentines day.
Amazing. Went here for my birthday and received amazing service and a few extras for the occasion! The staff, especially Kieran were very attentive. It was a long wait to get seated but definitely worth it. Portions were on the smaller side, but we were advised of that, and the food was really enjoyed by everyone. I would definitely return based on the service alone! Definitely worth a visit.
Delicious food. First off I must say the space is quite nice. Wood features like the faux beams and the bar area create a very cozy and inviting atmosphere. Service was top notch and very attentive (must be one of the pluses of sitting at the bar). We had the wild boar chorizo which was served with pickled zucchini, and a very pungent mustard. The sliced flank steak was very good with the small potatoes and parsley with a cream sauce served on top. The scotch egg was amazing. Only thing was is that I was not too fond of the deep fried asparagus or onions... surprisingly enough I did not mind the deep fried anchovy stuff olives.
I will have to come back to try some of the other dishes! Very pleasant experience.
Good sangria! Totally amazing food. My favourite of all were the pork belly with white beans and pork belly with baby arugula. The Iberian ham croquettes were amazing that we had two orders. But the best of all was the churros. I haven't had churros con chocolate in a while. Simply amazing!
Excellent. What a treat! I will be coming back until I have had everything on this menu - that could take years because the nightly features are outrageously good. Congratulations!
Finally.. We needed this.
Try the morcilla.
Awesome. Gotta have the chick peas!!!!
Awesome food and awesome atmosphere with great drink selection and a great selection of tapas. Just came back from Spain a couple of weeks ago, and this place brought me back. The staff were really friendly. Will definitely come back here again.
Walked in there, the place was busy, so we just took a seat at the bar. We were promptly greeted by the bartender, whose name I wish I remembered, because his service was top notch. Standout dishes include the marinated white anchovies, and the stewed octopus, which taste fresh and authentic. Also impressive were the mussels, the marinated olives, and ling cod. Would definitely go back, dying to try the rest of the menu.
The bartender was ever helpfully, with excellent recommendations, friendly conversation, and even a nice treat!
Great food, service and price point. A must for anyone looking for a great meal.
Food was great. Service was a bit chaotic. Sangria was super yum.
I met up with a friend who suggested Espana. When I got there around 6:45pm on a weekday, there were only 3 small tables left available. By 8pm, the place was jam packed and the noise level got a bit too much for the both of us by 9pm. But that was ok, since we were done eating and chatting by then. It’s a hip/modern tapas place. Cozy and a bit cramped, though I guess that is to help strangers come together and talk, which did happen. We ordered 4 dishes: Salt Cod & Potato Croquettes $8 Sauteed Fiddlehead with poached egg, serrano ham and mojo rojo $10 Grilled Asparagus and Leek with quail egg, manchego and romesco sauce $11 Frito Mixto $13 with halibut cheeks, asparagus, anchovy stuffed olives, salsa verde The Cod Croquette was really yummy. Super crispy and hot inside – nicely fried. The cod went well with the potatoes, and the lemon juice gives it a nice zesty punch! The mayo on the side is nice for those who rather not have any like my health conscious friend. I used
The Sardine Can Every single time we stopped by the Sardine Can , it was always running at maximum capacity with hungry diners pacing around the front door, praying there would be an open seat soon (doesn't matter where). The night I hit up this Gastown gem with my friend S was no different. Luckily, we didn't wait around too long and got 2 cozy spots at the bar. Created by the same folks behind Pied a Terre and La Buca, the name "Sardine Can" was quite fitting, as we did feel a little bit crammed in the modest, yet crowded space. I was quite intrigued with how simple and minimal their kitchen was. And much more intrigued by how fast the chef was able to fly out those orders, keeping consistency with excellent quality control. As we both were not too familiar with Spanish tapas, S and I weren't quite sure what we should order and so we only order 3 dishes like 2 old shy introverts who didn't go outside that often. Now that I looked back, we should have ordered at least 2 more d
A quaint restaurant that makes you feel like you have travelled far away. Their Paella is much better than what I have had for million times in Spain itself 🥘 all the Food was divine, and the atmosphere was cozy, chilled and pretty relaxed. I would go so far as to say it's one of the best Spanish food I've had in some of the best restaurants in Canada and Spain!
Five stars as well for the friendly, professional, yet fun service! In a word: España was phenomenal 🧡
Recommend checking this place out. And yes, it’s pricy, but It's worth your time and money.
Until next time, Espana! I love you 🥹
The eggplant dish was superb! Probably the best eggplant I’ve tried in my life. It is a tapas place but the portion is quite generous. We only ordered three dishes and we were full. Definitely should’ve come with more people but the restaurant is so small, hard to cram too many people in.
Wonderful service and the place was so cozy and warm. Great place for spanish food! The seafood paella was great and reasonably price to share between a couple people!
First time back since pandemic. Service was absolutely fantastic, and the food was even better than I remeber. Thank for the amazing nite!
Nice place. We did the Chicharrones and Duck. Both were great. The Duck was delicious!!!! The owners aren’t from Spain but have done a great job with this place.
![4]( "Recensione")
Good place but gets four stars :
I keep restaurants accountable while I respect and understand them trying to make a living in expensive Vancouver:
1- tapas were nice but pricy (14$ for a bowl of potatoes and some sour cream? )
2- no music
3- again high pressure to order and high pressure to clean the table hinting that you must leave.
And something that has just come to my attention with not just this place but all places : they charge the tips on the entire amount of the bill and not the food and drink amount itself : so practically you pay 15% or 18% tips on the liquor tax and GST as well which can add up.
So your 15% tip is essentially 18% and your 18% is about 21%.
I understand the crew’s partial wages comes from tips and there has been inflation but the foods and drink have already priced inflation in so as the tips are % of the entire bill, the inflation has been adjusted already.
I think paying the tips on the entire bill including gst and liquor tax is misleading and unethical. At this rate we will be at automatic 25% tips next year in Vancouver.
Thx for reading.
An error has occurred! Please try again in a few minutes